Celebrating horses with Rhonda Lane and friends

Vengeance and Grit: 2014 Santa Anita Handicap

Rhonda here: The race is history. The results are at the end of the post.

The 2014 Santa Anita Handicap is full of stories. History, redemption, vengeance and perseverance. The best part? We have a couple of opportunities to see the race live, aside from flying out and racing out to Santa Anita.

The stars

Mucho Macho Man won the 2013 Breeder’s Cup Classic by a nose, just in front of Will Take Charge. Both horses have a lot riding on The Big ‘Cap. Can Mucho Macho Man hold the line? Or will Will Take Charge do exactly that?

Then, there’s two-time Santa Anita Handicap champion Game On Dude, shooting for a three-peat. A ‘Cap trick? Like a “hat trick” from hockey? You know me. I had to try. 😉

Anyway, we see grit and perseverance with the always game Game On Dude, who’s now 7, and Gary Stevens who returned to riding and winning big races like the Breeder’s Cup Classic last year and just celebrated his 51st birthday.

The potential upsetters

Then, there’s the field. Never rule out the field, especially with all the top jockeys on longshots. A rising star who isn’t a longshot is Blingo, who, as described in this article from The Paulick Report, defeated Game On Dude a month ago and is trained by John Shirreffs and owned by Ann and Jerry Moss, the team that brought us Zenyatta.

Imperative may have been a claimer, but the Daily Racing Form says he’s looking good, plus he’s good enough to attract Kent Desormeaux.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has two horses in the eight horse field: Rousing Sermon with Rafael Bejarano and Hear the Ghost with Joel Rosario.

For better looks at the field, check these reports from “And Down the Stretch They Come” and Tufts Daily, who interestingly enough put The Dude in the field. Ouch! 🙂 Then again, has The Dude seen better days?

Where to Watch

If you can’t get to Santa Anita for Saturday, March 8, Fox Sports 1 will air coverage of this weekend’s 2014 Santa Anita Handicap on cable starting at 7 pm EST for about a half hour.

On your channel guide, look for FS1 or FS1HD. If your cable system doesn’t offer FS1, I’ve heard we can watch the race live on the computer via CalRacing